Ready to Rumble
by Bombshell1701
Summary: On a visit to Japan, Thor gets to know his Shinto counterpart as they rumble in the skies above Tokyo. One-shot inspired by a trip to Japan. Reviews appreciated, thank you!


**Ready to Rumble**

Thor made his way down a path, ducking as he passed through a series of bright vermilion gates. They stood out against the grey flagstone, even in the growing twilight. The gates opened onto a tidy stone courtyard. A covered washstand sat to the left of the path leading up to the shrine. Thor moved to it, wetting his hands and mouth with water from a ladle, cleansing himself as instructed, before moving up to the shrine. He bowed deeply twice, clapped twice, and then bowed again. It was a simple but strange ritual to him, but he knew that the gods must be respected, even if they weren't his.

He looked up at the statue in the shrine. The figure had white skin, and a body that looked like it had fallen into disuse after perhaps having once been powerful. He had a demon's face: the nose was rather snout-like, but the eyes were fierce and keen, and the mouth pulled into a hiss, revealing sharp teeth. He was encircled by a set of small drums

Thor fished a small coin from his pocket and tossed it into a covered slot, paying his respects. He then folded his arms across his broad chest and allowed himself a smile.

"Raijin, is it? You are these people's thunder god?" he asked aloud. He peered up at the Shinto deity and nodded. "I understand the drums, certainly a clever concept, but I suspect they wouldn't be a match for Mjolnir" He grinned at the thought. "There's more to being a thunder god than just making noise and scaring the peasants" Thor said casually. He relaxed his posture and leaned into a bow. "It was nice meeting you, thunder god." He smiled, turned and began to walk away, but he hadn't made it to the gates when a rumbling boom sounded behind him, the earth seemed to shake, and Thor stumbled slightly. He rounded

The statue was gone, and standing in its place was the living, breathing god, Raijin.

"What would you know of it, mortal?" Raijin challenged.

"Mortal!" Thor said, incredulous. "I am no mortal. I am Thor, God of Thunder."

Raijin looked the blonde god up and down, clearly unimpressed. "God of Thunder? And who worships you?"

"People of the Northern lands, far from here. It is a place of ancient mountains and fjords, though my people are from Asgard, a realm that may not be known to you."

Raijin thought for a moment, then gave a curt nod. "I know of Asgard. Tell me, do they build shrines in your honour in the north?" he gestured with a glance at his shrine.

"To them, I am an old god, here long before the modern religions. Though, to this day I am still remembered in the names of people and places."

Raijin made a non-committal noise and shrugged with one shoulder. "That does not impress me all that much. I have shrines built in my honour from one end of this land to the other. I have not fallen into memory, as you can see." He looked quite pleased with himself, but there was a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

"And what do you do? Lurk about in pavilions like a posing animal, while tourists thrown coins at you?" Thor teased in return, trying not to smile. "Waking up to beat your drums from time to time, hardly making these people look up from their gadgets to notice your work in the sky!"

"I inspire fear and respect when I beat my drums! I leap from cloud to cloud, rapturous sound and sparks explode from their skins. Heaven and earth shake with the noise, dogs howl, children and adults alike cower in awe at my might!" Raijin roared. He was working himself up into quite a state. He seemed to grow in stature until he was almost as tall a Thor, and at least as broad. His drums had begun to move around him, their orbit spinning faster and faster around Raijin's mighty body. The Shinto god looked every bit as dangerous as he said he was. The air rippled with energy.

Thor smiled an easy grin. This was more like it! He raised a hand, silently summoning Mjolnir, from his nearby apartment. "If you truly are a thunder god, prove it!" He challenged.

"Are you challenging me to a fight, Asgardian?" Raijin roared.

"If you dare!" Thor answered.

"I would be honoured!" Raijin cried. He brought his hands down on his whirling drums, using the shock-wave to launch himself skyward. He hands met drums again, blasting a wave towards Thor. Thor anticipated the wave and leapt into the air-

-just as Mjolnir soared into his hand. He swung the hammer in tight circles, flying high above the shock wave, which burst invisibly to the ground with a great roar that made the shrine beneath them tremble. Raijin gave a great surprised laugh at Thor's counter-move.

The two gods took their duel high into the sky. Raijin thumped and thundered on his drum circle, throwing bursts of sound at Thor, who deflected them easily with Mjolnir. He answered the rumbles of thunder with bolts of lighting. The energy rebounded off Raijin's whirling drums, which seemed to confine the Shinto god in a protective circle of energy. He realised this, and laughed merrily.

Thor swung Mjolnir faster and faster, sending strikes at Raijin, and often deflecting his own blows as Raijin bounced them back at him. His curiosity and amusement was rapidly turning to frustration. Raijin leapt from cloud to cloud, his drums propelling him almost effortlessly.

Thor flew swiftly behind him, sparks emanating from his whirling hammer. A thought occurred to him, and he swung Mjolnir in a fast, tight circle, then touched it to a cloud just as Raijin lit upon it.

The epic energy from Mjolnir crackled along the cloud, contacting Raijin's bare foot. Sparks of static electricity flew as the bolt contacted his foot, and Raijin squealed in surprise. He halted and rounded on Thor, his eyes wide in challenge.

Thor grinned "That got your attention."

"You cheeky interloper!" Raijin seethed.

Thor touched Mjolnir to the cloud, sending another jolt of static into Raijin's feet. The other god squawked and leapt into the air.

"Trickery!" Raijin cried.

"Does it bother you?" Thor said innocently, shocking Raijin again.

Raijin stopped his cloud dance just long enough to send a boom of thunder at Thor. Thor countered with a blast from Mjolnir.

They rumbled across the night sky of Tokyo, lightening answered with thunder. Raijin stood his ground; illuminated from below by the the great city's lights, he looked every bit like the ancient and mysterious god he was.

"You give a good battle, Asgardian. I haven't had a fight like this since the last time I duelled with Fujin, and you're about as full of hot air as he!" Raijin roared with laughter, but did not let up with his blasts.

Thor's brow furrowed in thought "I'm sure that comment would be hilarious if I understood its context" he commented. He countered and deflected, pounding the clouds around them, lighting up the sky.

Raijin leapt from cloud to cloud, the static shocks singeing his feet, irritating him. Thor smothered a grin. He really had no grudge against the Shinto god, this match was simply an amusing way to pass the time... but his personal honour _was_ at stake...

Despite Raijin's soft outward appearance, he showed no sign of fatigue. His hand flew over his whirling drums, too fast for even Thor's eyes to see. The effect was dizzying and spectacular, and Thor's concentration almost lapsed for a moment in admiration. It was all Raijin needed. His hands crashed down on the drum skins in unison, emitting an explosion of sound. Thor swung Mjolnir, catching the impact of the blast, sending it back at Raijin. It hit the other god nearly point-blank. One of his drums took the impact and exploded, scattering magical fragments of bamboo and leather. The sudden impact blasted the Shinto god off his feet, and, with the rhythm of his drums destroyed, he hurtled backwards with a yell of surprised anger and began to fall.

Thor raised Mjolnir in front of his face to block the impact, and it took him a moment to realise that his opponent had disappeared. He was puzzled, and then heard the yell, realising what had happened.

Swinging Mjolnir once again, Thor dove down through the cloud to see his opponent falling towards the city. He hurtled towards him, grabbing him by the forearm, and plucked him from his deadly decent. Raijin returned the grip on Thor's forearm, and let the blond god fly him though the air.

Thor landed them gently once again at Raijin's shrine. A moment later, the remaining drums from Raijin's destroyed set rained down around them, like huge thundering hail stone. Raijin reached for one and looked bemusedly at it.

"Sorry" Thor said, rather sheepishly.

Raijin gave him a salty look, but shrugged. "No matter. It was good to shake the dust off them."

Thor smiled gently. "It was an excellent battle, truly worthy of the Gods. And you take defeat very well."

Without warning, Raijin hurled the drum at Thor's head. Thor wasn't expecting it, and so did not dodge. The drum hit him squarely in the forehead, and made an almost comical _ping_ sound. Thor felt himself fall, and hit the ground before he could even react. He lay there for a moment, dazed, and more embarrassed than insulted. After a moment, Raijin sauntered over. "What were you saying about defeat?" he said casually.

Thor groaned.

Raijin offered Thor a hand up. "Truce?" he asked.

"You have my word" Thor confirmed. Raijin smiled and gave a curt nod, then hauled the felled Asgardian to his feet. Thor casually rubbed his forehead.

"Forgive me, that was a cunning shot" Raijin said, bowing deeply.

"No, no" Thor said agreeably. "You saw an opportunity, and you took it. I admire that." He returned the bow, and began helping Raijin to collect the damaged drums. "Can you repair them?

"

"Of course. They're magic drums. Not as fanciful as your enchanted hammer, of course. But they do pack a wallop when handled correctly" Raijin said with a smug smile.

"Indeed" Thor answered with a smile.

"Well, now that we've battled and proven our worth as Gods, and reminded the mortals to fear and respect us... let's drink" Raijin said. "The mortals leave me barrels and barrels of Sake as offerings. Now seems like the perfect time to put them to use!"

"I would be honoured to partake" Thor said honestly. He was pleased to know that battle then revels was how it was done here, too.

"Good. It'll be good to go through some of my stores; with the show we just put on, I suspect they will be lining up tomorrow with even more barrels to appease me!"

Thor laughed, and slapped his fellow thunder god on the back.

 _Fin_

 _So, obviously I was inspired to write this after my trip to Japan last year, just took me a while to get it down. I thought it would be fun to have Thor facing off against a counterpart from another religion. I found Shinto to be huge and fascinating, but only have a cursory knowledge of it, so I apologise if I've misrepresented it here in any way. Raijin is obviously the Shinto god of thunder (also known as Raiden, amongst other names) he has many, many shrines dedicated to him throughout Japan, including the one I visited in Ueno Park. Google him if you want to know how he's depicted. FYI - Fujin is the Shinto god of winds, and they often have battles. It's very cool. PS Japan is awesome. THANKS FOR READING!_


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